Thomas Jefferson and Francois Cointereaux, Professor of Rural Architecture in Revolutionary Paris

摘要

Although we have no means of assessing the number of pupils who attended Cointereaux's schools, we do know that there were many visitors, notably from abroad. They were attracted by the novelty of the material and by his demonstrations for implementation in the period 1790-95, which favoured the large dissemination of pise architecture in Europe, North America and Australasia in 1795-1840. Cointereaux remained, however, mainly a theoretician and an experimental architect, in search of private and public patronage. In spite of his many requests of support to the relevant boards of the new revolutionary administration, he failed to secure large-scale commissions. His originality consisted mostly in perfecting the vernacular technique to such an extent that he was able, with this method, to create wedge-shaped pise blocks for the construction of vaults, columns, pilasters, and mouldings, all thanks to a complex system of moulds. This casting in the shape of elements of the classical vocabulary combined with the technique of al fresco painting allowed pise architecture to adapt to the classical taste of the Revolution and the Empire. The influence of Antiquity (the 'pise of the Romans') also largely contributed to its revival and to its promotion at the peak of neoclassical culture in France and in Europe. Jefferson is the only well-known architect for whom direct contacts with Cointereaux are well documented. Despite his personal acquaintance with the French architect, Jefferson did not respond favourably to Cointereaux's proposal to settle in the United States and to open a school of rural and earthen architecture there. Jefferson, however, accorded some importance to the subject of pise, as part of his vast architectural culture, although his interest was probably only academic. There is in fact no evidence that he had any experience in the actual application of the technique, brick and wood being his favourite materials. His scepticism with regard to the use of the technique in his homeland and in respect to his long-term durability did not prevent its dissemination into eastern North America after 1804, when Stephen W. Johnson built his experimental building near Trenton, New Jersey, the first documented pise building in the United States. The significant tradition of earthen wall construction which followed this experiment is largely due to the influence of Cointereaux's treatise on pise and its translation by Johnson in 1806. In parallel with the specific techniques of ancien and nouveau pise, a similar technology — 'the clay lump', or unburnt mud bricks of more modest size — was also common in eastern North American architecture at the time. The earth buildings identified to date in both techniques reflected then-current Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, and Italianate styles, thus demonstrating the popularity of earth architecture in nineteenth-century America.